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[ZeroGravitas]

Which is weird because there are models for ruined megastructures, and I'm pretty sure one of the dev diaries for 2.2 mentioned that they could be destroyed.  Well, colossi can destroy habitats and ringworld segments, right?

there are models for ruined ones because you can find old ones and repair them (in fact, you don't even need the Utopia DLC to do it).

[Telgin]

Yeah, even if they seem to be extremely rare.  I've only ever seen one, if I recall.

I'm just surprised that they didn't follow things to their natural conclusion and add the ability to ruin them again somehow.

[ZeroGravitas]

Yeah, even if they seem to be extremely rare.  I've only ever seen one, if I recall.

I'm just surprised that they didn't follow things to their natural conclusion and add the ability to ruin them again somehow.

if you play on smaller galaxies you won't see many. a Large galaxy can have two or even three.

[Telgin]

I keep wanting to find a ruined science nexus, because I'm curious if its research speed bonus stacks with one you build.  Not that you really need even more science boosts in 2.2 in its current state, but it would still be fun just to see the numbers go up.

The one ruined megastructure I found was a Dyson sphere, which admittedly was a very nice find too.  Being able to just repair it in a single step in stead of five construction steps was very nice.

Oh, I guess I did get Cybrex Alpha once, but that's a little different from the random megastructures.

[Trekkin]

The one ruined megastructure I found was a Dyson sphere, which admittedly was a very nice find too.  Being able to just repair it in a single step in stead of five construction steps was very nice.

Was there ever an official explanation of why megastructures have five intermediate steps before they're complete, each of which can only be triggered manually? It's honestly the biggest obstacle to my building lots of them.

[Telgin]

Probably to allow you to build them with installments of resources instead of 50K alloys up front.  That was arguably more important in older versions where resource caps were smaller, but it's still helpful now to be able to pay 10K alloys and start accumulating more for the next step instead of having to wait until you accumulate the whole project's worth of alloys.

It would probably make even more sense for it to be a monthly drain, but the game designers might think that having to accumulate some big chunk of resources feels more meaningful and engaging.  I guess that might be true.

Doing them in stages also lets you interleave their construction, since you're limited to one at a time, although that's a contentious issue on its own.

[Trekkin]

I guess the stages themselves make some sense, but it would be nice if we could toggle something to just automatically start the next one when the last one is done, provided we have the resources. Even if that were an option in the text box that pops up when you're done with a stage, it'd still spare us having to go find the one we want every time.

[Telgin]

Patches 2.2.3 and 2.2.4 beta were just released.  Lots of stuff was fixed, including performance fixes, but sadly it looks like the Contingency and Prethoryn Scourge won't be completely fixed until next week some time.

I'll probably finish off my last game tonight anyway, despite waiting for an AI fix for the crises.  The Contingency's difficulty isn't as affected by them conquering planets so the challenge shouldn't be much reduced by the bug.

[Stench Guzman]

I keep wanting to find a ruined science nexus, because I'm curious if its research speed bonus stacks with one you build.  Not that you really need even more science boosts in 2.2 in its current state, but it would still be fun just to see the numbers go up.

Answer: Multiple science nexuses stack.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

[Telgin]

That's actually really surprising to hear.  Was the station armed with only kinetic weapons and was stripping the shields of each ship before finishing them off?  I've heard that ships armed with kinetic weapons try to do that to maximize weapon effectiveness, but I can't confirm I've seen that happen myself.  Unfortunately, there's no way to dictate what weapons a starbase is armed with, so you can't really help it if that's the problem, short of building a mixture of defense platforms, which suck in their own way.

[Dunamisdeos]

I've found starbases to be little more than a deterrent save in cases of truly overwhelming power differences. They can't dodge, after all.

[forsaken1111]

I have found that stations backed up by fleets can be immensely effective but stations alone are almost laughably trivial. A station with a few buff/debuff modules and a hangar or a bunch of missiles can really help an otherwise hopeless engagement between fleets but on its own it will get slaughtered

[EnigmaticHat]

My experience with stations suggests that you want to build them to support a fleet rather than fight on their own.  IIRC nothing should shoot at a station if a fleet is present, so its free to fire missiles or apply its buffs without concern.  Earlier in the game a defense station is a way to have half your fleet beat the whole enemy fleet... or at least that's how I look at it.  In station vs fleet battles the station's listed combat value definitely seems exaggerated.

[Broseph Stalin]

A starbase can be very useful but if you can muster enough force to make a starbase tough enough to defend itself frankly you're probably punching down so hard you're wasting time worrying about defense. The key to a starbase is that they can make it really suck to fight somewhere. If you're evenly matched that can be the difference between ordering a tactical retreat and massacring hostile forces.
You can also use starbases as traps. I like to sprinkle hard hitting defense platforms in groups of one or two when I take a system. You can make sure retaking a system costs a corvette or two and you can hold the enemy fleet still for a few extra seconds when they're staying a step ahead of your guys. If you're evenly matched with an enemy take a system, let the base recover, and then bait them into attacking. Let them wear down their armor and shields fighting the base and then swoop in when they're soft.

[Dunamisdeos]

I do definitely plop down a couple defense platforms in occupied systems. Disrupts that trickle of reinforcements nicely.